5th August 2015

"We've undergone some huge changes in the past few months, so much so that it's prevented me from writing a blog!

We have increased our staff team from three to eight - an amazing expansion for us. We now have two Specialist Support Workers, Beverley and Ally who work with women in Torbay and North Devon. I'm so proud of the fact that we've been able to expand into the furthest reaches of the county. We know how frustrating it is when services are really Exeter-centric which is why we've always worked with women in various locations. But having permanent bases in Torquay and Barnstaple just makes it so much easier logistically for our workers and volunteers to be flexible and accessible.

And then we have our new counselling service for young women and men aged 13 - 18, staffed by Ilaria and Tracey. It has always been an aim of ours to offer services to young people so to see it come alive is quite wonderful.

And there's more! We have a new administration and monitoring worker, Jo, who joined us recently to take us to the next level with all things data! And Vanessa has just joined us as a Service Co-ordinator to take on many of the responsibilities held by Anna, our Service Manager, who is about to leave us for 6 months maternity leave - we wish her very well with her own expanding family!

The changes and increase in personnel have had quite an impact on the organisation. Where to sit down for one thing! And our Trustees are quite bemused by the constant stream of new faces appearing at their Board meetings to introduce themselves (our chair, Linda keeps asking me to repeat the numbers in our workforce now ...)

What's not changed is the culture of the organisation; the belief we all share in the empowerment of women, the way we deliver our services in a human and transparent manner, the skills and commitment of the team. And of course, the 'team' is so much more than our paid workers; it includes our 23 volunteer support workers and our 8 trustees - all of whom give so much and make this place so remarkable."

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